A
person with obsessive-compulsive disorder have either obsessions,
or compulsions, or both. The obsessions and/or compulsions are
strong enough to cause significant distress in their employment,
schoolwork, or personal and social relationships. This includes:
anankastic neurosis, obsessional neurosis and obsessive-compulsive
neurosis

Associated
Features:

Some disorders have similar or even the same symptom. The clinician,
therefore, in his diagnostic attempt, has to differentiate against
the following disorders which he needs to rule out to establish
a precise diagnosis

Cause:

In
one-third of obsessive-compulsive individuals, onset of the disorder
occurs by the age of 15. A second peak of incidence occurs during
the third decade of life. Once established, obsessive-compulsive
disorder is likely to persist throughout life with varying degrees
of severity. However, the exact cause is still unknown.
There is some evidence to suggest that OCD may be inherited.
There is a link between a shortage of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter
in a persons brain, and OCD. Stress has also been
linked to OCD. It has been found that when a persons
life is consumed by stress, they are more likely to develop OCD.

Treatment:

There is no cure for OCD, However, there are several types of
treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Individual
therapy is the most common treatment and frequently involves response
prevention and exposure. Response prevention therapy consists
of keeping the person from acting on his/her obsessions and compulsions.

Current
medications used for the treatment of OCD include Anafranil (clomipramine),
Luvox (fluvoxamine), Paxil (paroxetine), and Prozac (fluoxetine).
These medications can help diminish obsessive thinking and the
subsequent compulsive behaviors.
Other Treatment: